Fair housing groups turn up heat over BofA’s REO practices

Fair housing groups have added more cities and new evidence to a complaint filed one year ago today against Bank of America that claims that the bank hasn't been diligent in maintaining and marketing bank-owned properties in minority neighborhoods.
Bank of America's practices have undermined property values and discouraged purchases by owner-occupants in favor of investors, the lawsuit claims.
In April 2012, the National Fair Housing Alliance released a study that concluded that lenders were violating the Fair Housing Act in their handling of many properties they'd repossessed in African-American and Latino neighborhoods. The homes, the study claimed, were not being maintained or marketed as diligently as homes in predominantly white neighborhoods.
The group's evaluation of more t...